Postgame Thoughts

This was a pretty gutsy performance by the Packers, especially after Favre went down.

Bob Sanders, however, has a lot of explaining to do. How is it possible that he was running a scheme that had AJ Hawk and, on a separate play, Nick Collins responsible for covering Terrell Owens. That is a bad scheme, no matter how you cut it.

The play of the game, in my view, was the Packers failure to stop the Cowboys on 3rd and 19 from deep in their own territory. Romo completed a pass to Patrick Crayton and while the Cowboys did not score on that drive (T.O. bobbled a pass in the end zone and Al Harris picked it off) it was a back-breaking play that kept the Packer defense on the field.

Interestingly, the two guys calling the game for NFL Network thought the biggest plays in the game were the two pass interference calls on CBs covering Miles Austin. Both calls were, at least, questionable and the second was was flat out incorrect. I would add to that list the botched call on the first Cowboy drive of the game. Al Harris stripped T.O. of the ball cleanly and the refs missed it. The potential momentum swing after such a turnover is hard to overstate.

Finally, our special teams play was awful. The Cowboys had several long kickoff returns tonight and held the field position advantage over the Packers in dramatic fashion.

The upside: A depleted Packer team kept the game within reach against a well-stocked Cowboy team at their home stadium. If the Packers meet the Cowboys again in January, and they have their key players available, there is little question that the Packers can win the game.